DOR assists AG’s office in film tax credit fraud case

(Editor's Note: Following his arraignment in Boston Muncipal Court on Friday, Dec. 9, Daniel Adams was subsequently indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury on Monday, Dec. 12, and arraigned on Tuesday, Dec. 13 in Suffolk Superior Court. The Attorney General's office issued a press release after the indictment which describes the alleged fraud in more detail. Bail remains at $100,000 cash.)

Attorney General Martha Coakley today announced the arraignment of movie director Daniel Adamson charges of defrauding the Commonwealth's film tax credit program of $4.7 million.

The AG said that "today's action is an important step to ensure that the film tax credit is awarded appropriately while encouraging legitimate productions to be filmed here in Massachusetts. We want to thank the Department of Revenue for discovering this alleged fraud and working cooperatively with our office to investigate further."

The release recognized DOR investigators Janel Cosgrove and Tom Nowicki for their work on the case.

The investigation began in March 2010 when an investigator at DOR spotted suspicious tax returns connected to the "The Lightkeepers'" film. "Concerned that these returns might be fraudulent documents the DOR began an investigation and then referred the findings to the AG's Fraud and Financial Crimes Division," the AG's release said.

The alleged fraud centered on inflated payroll and production expenses for two films. Inflating the value of those increases the value of the film tax credit, which is equal to 25 percent of production costs. The AG alleges that Adams fraudulently claimed $4.7 million in film tax credits.

DOR recently released its 2011 film tax credit report. To date, 556 film productions have received $276.1 million in tax credits while spending more than $1.13 billion in Massachusetts